(3) The Grand Prix in the “Products division,” of Year 2008

Product name: “Nose Sansui Mountain Water” and “Nose Sansui Oolong Tea”

Company name: The Nose Sake Brewing Company Limited, Nose-Machi, Nose-Gun, Osaka Prefecture

The company has been working to promote the introduction of a returnable drink bottle, and has newly developed a decorative, returnable one-liter bottle for oolong tea. The company provides the oolong tea as a replacement for the oolong tea in plastic bottles, and has begun to sell by home delivery to houses nearby and to eating and drinking places as a commodity that contributes to the reduction of plastic bottle waste, by practicing and establishing a reuse system within the area.

### 4. The Food Recycling Promotion Award by Ministry of Environment

By prize-giving and introducing to the whole of the country examples of outstanding advancement of the reclamation of food circulative resources and heat recovery, as well as restraint and reduction of food waste generation by food related businesses, the Ministry of the Environment has been encouraging, educating and spreading further promotion of the establishment of a sound material-cycle society.

(1) The Grand Prix in the “The Food Recycling Promotion Award by Ministry of Environment” of Year 2008

Subject name: Entity Name: ECO Feed circulative Business Cooperative Association, a federation between The Biomass Green Company Limited and The Kanazawa Sangyo Company Limited, Kasai-City, Hyogo Prefecture

As an approach to the business operations of local production for a local consumption style food circulative recycling system with industry, local municipal government, academic and agricultural cooperation, they manufacture eco feed (recycled feeding stuff) by making use of vegetable waste, bread crumbs, expired food collected from the food supermarkets and food factories. The feed is sold to pig farmers and assorted feed factories, to be used for producing “marbled pork” as a local food product for local consumption, which is sold in local food supermarkets.

### Section 2. Current Situation of the generation, circulative use and disposal of waste

With a central focus on those waste and recycling activities that are working for the establishment of a Sound Material-Cycle Society, here is a detailed description of the situation of the generation, circulative use and disposal of wastes, national

### 1. The material flow of our country

## (1) The material flow of our country

As a first step to the establishment of a Sound Material-Cycle Society, it is essential to know the amount of resources we are collecting, consuming and dumping.

Moreover, in order that a Sound Material-Cycle Society can be established, the Second “Fundamental Plan for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society (A Cabinet decision in March 2008, hereafter called the “Fundamental Plan for a Sound Material-Cycle Society”), has set new goals for the indexes concerning the “Entrance”, “Exit” and “Circulation” of materials, this refers to the three different sections of the material flow (meaning the flow of materials and goods), where appropriate and balanced measures for reduction, reuse, recycling and disposal of resources should be developed.

In the following, based on the Material Flow Accounts (MFA) used for the understanding of the entire flow of materials in the economy of our country, we are going to give an overview of the total flow of materials, the problems highlighted in our analysis and the present situation of the goals of the material flow set-up in the Fundamental Plan for a Sound Material-Cycle Society.

### A. A general view of the material flow of our country

When we examine the material flow of our country in Fiscal 2006, there were 18.2 billion tons of total material input, countermeasures and individual activities, as well as international measures for the establishment of a Sound Material-Cycle Society.

and 750 million, about a half, were used in the construction of buildings and infrastructures. Moreover, 170 million tons were exported as products, 490 million tons were used in the energy consumption and manufacturing process and 580 million tons of wastes were generated. Out of these items, 230 million tons were subjected to cyclical use, equivalent to 12.5% of the total material input amount. (Figure 2-1).

Details of the material flow of our country are as follows.

## (a) Considering the “Total Material Input Amount”

The total material input amount for fiscal 2006 was 1.82 billion tons, which was 85% of the 2.14 billion tons for fiscal 2000. The decrease of the total material input is largely affected by the decrease of nonmetal mineral type resources caused by the reduction in public works projects. From now on, consumption control of the amount of natural resources input is inevitable, inclusive of exhaustible natural resources such as metal and fossil materials, sustainable development is supposedly impossible without further efforts from each participant.

## (b) "Natural Resources Input Amount"

The natural resources input amount means the total amount of natural resources derived from domestic production or imports plus the amount of imported products; they